Gossage among six enshrined into Baseball Hall of Fame

Monday

Jul 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 28, 2008 at 12:26 PM

Over those years, Gossage put together an impressive resume as one of the game’s all-time great relief pitchers, aided by his imposing 6-foot-3, 220-pound physique, frightening Fu Manchu mustache and intimidating fastball that reached 99 mph.

Impressive enough to land him in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

John Pitarresi

The best baseball advice Goose Gossage ever got came from Chuck Tanner, his manager with the Chicago White Sox.

"Kid, you make them tear that uniform off you," said tough-guy Tanner.

"Twenty-two years later, they did," Gossage said.

Over those years, Gossage put together an impressive resume as one of the game’s all-time great relief pitchers, aided by his imposing 6-foot-3, 220-pound physique, frightening Fu Manchu mustache and intimidating fastball that reached 99 mph.

Impressive enough to land him in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Gossage and longtime manager Dick Williams, who took three different franchises to the World Series and won twice, were inducted into the Hall on Sunday.

Early executive Barney Dreyfuss, commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Dodger owner Walter O’Malley and Cardinals and Braves manager Billy Southworth, all deceased, also were inducted into the Hall on a warm, humid day in front of a crowd estimated at 14,000, way down from last year’s estimate of 82,000.

With so many honorees, and a record 56 of the 64 living Hall of Fame members being introduced by master of ceremonies George Grande, the program stretched 3 hours and 15 minutes, but was peppered with solid speeches that were heavy on history and provided a somewhat different perspective on one Hall of Famer.

Gossage, who had a 124-107 record, 310 saves and a 3.01 earned-run average for nine teams, most notably the New York Yankees, was affably emotional in accepting his award and generous in his "thank yous" to former managers, coaches and teammates, including departed ones like Thurman Munson – "My greatest catcher" – Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Jim Spencer, Aurelio Rodriguez and Bobby Murcer.

Gossage, who signed with the White Sox for $8,000 in 1971, remembered throwing to his brother as a youngster, and being criticized for "throwing like a girl." He had his strengths, though.

"I hid the ball well; I had great movement and tremendous velocity," he said.

Still, he had his doubts.

"I thought getting to the big leagues was crazy," he said. "Something that couldn’t be achieved."

He achieved it, though, and much more.

"This is truly an out-of-body experience," he said.

Williams, a stern taskmaster who managed six teams and had his greatest success with Red Sox, Padres and two-time World Series champion Oakland A’s, was gracious, whimsically random and humorous.

"Paul Richards (of the Orioles) acquired me four different times," he said. "Come to think of it, he got rid of me four times, too."

Williams recalled learning to love baseball during his St. Louis boyhood, when he often made his way from elementary school to Sportsman’s Park, often arriving in the first or second inning.

"I didn’t get much homework done, but I saw a lot of wonderful baseball with the Cardinals and Browns," he said.

Signed by Brooklyn in 1947 and a product of "The Dodger Way," Williams played for 13 seasons in the majors, but made his mark leading the Red Sox, Padres and especially the great Reggie Jackson-Catfish Hunter-Rollie Fingers Oakland teams of the early 1970s, battling all the way with players, owners, executives and umpires.

Williams paid special tribute one of his minor league managers, Bobby Bragan, now 90, to O’Malley and Branch Rickey of the Dodgers, Montreal manager Gene Mauch, who taught him much about running a ballclub, and Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, who beat his Red Sox three times in the 1967 World Series.

"The greatest right-handed pitcher I ever saw," Williams said.

Williams deflected some of the glory, too.

"Managers don’t make players," he said. "I’ve got to think players make managers."

Both Gossage and Williams made strong statements urging the enshrinement of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Paul Degener spoke on behalf of his father, Kuhn, and painted a new picture of the late commissioner, who often has been portrayed as hide-bound and impersonal. Kuhn married Degener’s mother after his father was killed and she was still pregnant with him. Degener portrayed him as a spiritual man who cared deeply about the game and left it in good shape in 1984 after 15 seasons on the job.

"He laid the foundation for what today is a thriving, even booming game," Degener said. "He loved the game."

Dreyfuss merged his Louisville Colonels and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900 to form a powerful Pirates club led by Honus Wagner. He is regarded as the father of the World Series – his National League team challenged the Boston Americans in 1903 – helped push for the creation of the commissioner’s position after the 1919 Black Sox scandal, and led the drive to eliminate trick pitches like the spitball.

Andrew Dreyfuss provided an interesting detailed account of his great-grandfather’s career, including the fact the 1903 Pirates were the only losing World Series team to earn more than the winners, $1,300-plus.

"He made out the checks to the wives," Dreyfuss said. "He wanted to make sure they saved some money. I’m not sure if any of these Hall of Famers have had that experience."

O’Malley, who moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1957 and monumentally expanded major league baseball’s horizon, was represented by his son, Walter, who spoke briefly.

Southworth, who had a .593 winning percentage as a manager, fifth best ever, won four pennants with the Cardinals and Braves from 1942 through 1948 and two World Series titles with St. Louis. Known as "The Little General," he was represented by Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr.

"Billy Southworth was a winner in every sense," he said.

Niehaus, the voice of the Mariners throughout their 32 history, gave a talk that included this vignette concerning Angels owner Gene Autry, The Singing Cowboy, his previous employer:

"David, you call a heck of game," Autry said. "Not the game I’m watching, but a heck of a game."

Tony Whiteside accepted for his late father, who was a pioneering African-American baseball beat writer and something more.